Next: A national Latino museum

As the Museo Alameda del Smithsonian was celebrating its grand opening, Pilar O’Leary was relaxing at an outdoor table at La Margarita, steps away from the festivities.

Over drinks and dinner, the director for the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives talked about her hopes for a national Latino museum on the Washington Mall.

It’s the next item on the Latino cultural agenda.

The task is likely to take a decade or more and must go through various congressional hoops before approval and, more importantly, funding.

But the will is there.

So to, apparently, is a vacancy on the Mall.

The Arts and Industries Building, the original home of the National Museum, could be a perfect home for a national Latino museum, given its hacienda-like courtyard.

And given the growing ranks of U.S. Latinos, it’s only natural that the nation’s major cultural institution would want to include Latino contributions to U.S. life and culture. So far, it has created spaces to honor other major minority groups, including African Americans, Asian Americans and Native Americans.

Not going that extra step would seem unnatural for the Smithsonian.

A Democratic White House may help the cause, so would the support of several key members of Congress on both sides of the aisle.

O’Leary, a Latina of Colombian descent, is hopeful. But there’s far more work in front of her than behind her.